SHOW US YOUR PAWS - Page 5

dave_in_delaware · 11-24-2010, 10:46 PM

For those of you with cats (I'm a cat person, but alas without my beloved cat now), how do you keep the cat from just darting for it whenever you open a door? In other words, how did you train it to NOT run away? I did that with my indoor-only cats, and they never wanted to go outside. But you're traveling with your cats, and use a leash, so I know they WANT to go outside....

Also, I love that Bengal. Beautiful!

windguy · 11-25-2010, 12:53 AM

some great additions this week. I'm so jealous.

like Delaware Dave, I too have cat questions when traveling.
What are the litter box maneuvers like when in a van?

yvrr · 11-25-2010, 09:22 AM

Bengals are very smart cats (ours is only 9 generations from a cross between a female Bengal Cat and a wild Asian Leopard Cat) and very easy to train. Our cat Indy (Indiana Jones) knows that he has to be on a leash when he is outside and has also learned the word "Stay" (along with 20-25 other commands). He loves to get outside when we camp and we won't leave the door open without watching him but if he is standing by the door when we open it, "Stay" will keep him there.

He also knows that he is never allowed to go out the back doors. In our EB-50 floor plan, we have a couple of duffels of bedding and warm coats behind the sofa and that is where he spends his time while driving which also lets him see out the rear window. When we lower the poptop, I typically latch it from the outside and if he is laying there when I open the rear door, he doesn't even bother to look up...he knows that I'm not coming to let him out that way. (Although one time he was lying against the rear door when I opened it and he fell out! He started off to explore on his own but stopped after a few feet and I was able to grab him.)

As for the litter box, our floor plan gives us a wide open space between the side doors and the sofa/sink/frig. His litter box is pushed into the corner next to the sofa and side doors. (We have another litter box in our other vehicle since we take him shopping a lot so he is not picky about which litter box he uses.) When we stop to camp for the night, the top of the litter box comes off and is stashed under the van and the litter box itself is moved to the floor in front of the driver's seat. The first time we did that, we moved it and then showed him where it was and he was cool with it and now always knows where to find it. He also doesn't need privacy (after all, he's a guy!) so the lack of a top on it doesn't make any difference to him.

My wife's back problems make vehicle trips over 6 hours a problem. So for those trips, Indy and I will drive and she will fly into our destination where we pick her up. Last year, Indy and I drove from the Bay Area to Aspen, Colorado for a week of fly fishing, 3 days to get there and 2 long days to get home. The last day coming home was in a sickly-looking (but clean) RV park in Winnemmuca, NV and I wanted to get on the road early in the last morning. So, I moved his litter box back to the "drive" position the night before. The next morning, we were up around 5:30 am. He usually uses his litter box in the morning (another guy thing I guess) and while I was putting away the bedding, I looked down and he was sitting on the floor by the driver's seat with puzzled look...where was his bathroom? I called to him and pointed it out and everything was fine again...

windguy · 11-25-2010, 01:12 PM

yvrr,

sorry to hear about your wife's back problems. at least you have Indy to keep you company in your travels.
I'm sure he makes a great navigator and never a backseat driver

funny about the litterbox.
that's one smart cat. understands commands. ok, I'll bite, what are some of the 20 commands that he will do?
getting a beer from the fridge would be at the top of my list.

**WVvan** · 11-25-2010, 01:46 PM

I'm mightily impressed with the people who can travel with their cats. I do miss my critters when I go camping. Even if I could train Tiger to travel there's a bigger problem. If he was to use his litter box in the van I'd have to immediately pull of to the side of the road, roll down all the windows and wait outside for an hour. Heck I'd be temped to just leap out the window while it was still rolling. That animal is lethal.

yvrr · 11-25-2010, 01:46 PM

I'm sure that he would me get a beer but I only drink Beefeater Gimlets!

Let's see....he shakes hand on command and sits up on command (both with a treat). Also, he understands "walk", "sit", "stay", "up", "down", "jump", "come", "night-night", "do you want to go outside?", "house" (to come in from his outside enclosure), "let's go see" (to go in a store), "no", "good boy", "stay on the trail", "breakfast", "dinner", "go get it", "come say hello" (to approach a stranger), "treat" (of course!), "all gone" (when something like a noisy truck gets him upset but is gone), "all gone" (no more treats), "fetch", "come around" (his sight is no longer very good and that means to come toward my voice to avoid an obstacle), and probably some more....

dave_in_delaware · 11-25-2010, 02:23 PM

That's so awesome. I'd love to travel with a cat. I had my indoor-only house cats trained to NOT get up on certain furniture, not to get up on the counters, not to even think about trying to get people food, not to claw things, etc.

But to be able to travel with them, in such a small camper. And not have them want to run away.... That would be friggin' awesome!

windguy · 11-26-2010, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yvrr

I'm sure that he would me get a beer but I only drink Beefeater Gimlets!

Let's see....he shakes hand on command and sits up on command (both with a treat). Also, he understands "walk", "sit", "stay", "up", "down", "jump", "come", "night-night", "do you want to go outside?", "house" (to come in from his outside enclosure), "let's go see" (to go in a store), "no", "good boy", "stay on the trail", "breakfast", "dinner", "go get it", "come say hello" (to approach a stranger), "treat" (of course!), "all gone" (when something like a noisy truck gets him upset but is gone), "all gone" (no more treats), "fetch", "come around" (his sight is no longer very good and that means to come toward my voice to avoid an obstacle), and probably some more....

gimlets. well, maybe Indy can fetch a lime then

that's a lot of commands.
I thought when we talk all cats hear is "blah, blah blah blah blah", no?

the only thing they respond to is the sound of a can opener.
he seems like a great friend. nice job!

windguy · 11-26-2010, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WVvan

I'm mightily impressed with the people who can travel with their cats. I do miss my critters when I go camping. Even if I could train Tiger to travel there's a bigger problem. If he was to use his litter box in the van I'd have to immediately pull of to the side of the road, roll down all the windows and wait outside for an hour. Heck I'd be temped to just leap out the window while it was still rolling. That animal is lethal.

too funny.

what are you feeding that beast?

jage · 11-26-2010, 08:55 PM

Scribbles isn't as smart- she understands "FOOD!" with a certain emphasis, "LOOK!" (there is another cat) and will come some of the time when called. She also has a good sense of what she isn't supposed to do, but doesn't always comply and along those lines understands "NO" and the what and why of the squirt bottle (or, and don't tell her this, certain objects that look like they might be a squirt bottle...)

But we only travel with her out of necessity too, despite the fact she travels great it makes things a lot harder, and we have to be more careful about opening doors and everything else. In our 50-EB her covered liter box goes between the bench seat and the side door pantry, unfortunately it doesn't fit with the bed down. She has only used it on the road twice- in the same 15 minutes she peed in it, pooped in it, and then puked all over the carpet. It was right at the beginning of the trip and was fine the other 1650 miles, poor thing.

Apart from that one time she waits until we camp to do her business.